254 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xiv. 



voice, its shape and flight, the " streamers " and the colour 

 of its bill. Even at a distance in the air, its "cleanness," a 

 most noticeable transparent whiteness, renders it as con- 

 spicuous amongst its other Tern companions as a country 

 Sparrow in a crowd of town relations. At the end of the 

 first week in June I again visited the island where all the 

 birds were then ensconced. About fifty pairs of Sandwich 

 Terns had eggs, but many had not yet started to lay. The 

 Roseates had so far only laid five clutches in much the usual 

 situation on the outskirts of the ground away as far as possible 

 from the general din and their eggs were well shaded by the 

 bladder campion which grows there in profusion. 



By June 25th there were more than one hundred and ten 

 pairs of Sandwich Terns altogether and unlike the previous 

 season they had all settled down into one large group. In 

 several cases the young were emerging and the domestic 

 arrangements of the Common and Arctic Terns were at a similar 

 stage, but all the Little Terns (S. a. albifrons) had hatched 

 off. Only two more pairs of Roseate Terns were breeding and 

 in one set of two, each egg was quite different. One with a 

 distinctly light almost white ground was encircled near the 

 centre by a broad band of very dark spots and blotches, a 

 rare and exceptionally beautiful type ; while the other, also 

 heavily marked, had a brown ground, much darker than the 

 normal. The owner was extremel}^ shy— -this is not usual 

 with a Roseate — and the ground did not permit of any hiding, 

 nevertheless, as a reward of patience, I saw her on to them 

 several times. The second nest, because of its situation, was 

 most interesting and was only discovered by the merest 

 chance. Just as I was stepping into the boat for the return 

 journey, I happened to notice a Roseate Tern flying about 

 in the midst of an excited flock of other Terns over a very 

 congested portion of the breeding ground. As she appeared 

 interested in a particular spot I returned, keeping her in view 

 through all her aerial manoeuvres. Many attempted landings 

 were frustrated by the aggressive behaviour of the general 

 throng, but persistence eventually triumphing, she alighted 

 in peace. Rushing over, I flushed her from a single egg to 

 which she returned as soon as possible. It was laid on the 

 flat, bare ground, amongst the busiest confusion of the whole 

 colony ! Certainly, some rather tall, straggling plants at a 

 distance formed a kind of background, so possibly at one time 

 the egg, then not far from hatching point, may have been 

 shaded by these which grew up as incubation proceeded. 

 At that time, however, it was completely exposed and is 



